Wringer



N. L. ETTEN Sept. 24. 1940.

WRINGER Filed June 19, 1936 6 Sheets-Sheet l MEN-FEE;

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Sept. 24, 1940.

'N. L. ETTEN WRINGER FiledrJ une 19, 1956 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 In lllll l-lnllllnlin:Ilium-Ill.

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Sept. 24. 1940. N. ETTEN 2,215,639

' WRINGER Filed June 19, 1956 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 1 11 lE la l vENTEFL' l g 8x1 J ATTIIFENEYE -N. L. ETTEN Sept. 24, 1940.

WRINGER Filed June 19, 1936 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTDRM Mm, EY

ATTIIRNEYE N. L. ETTEN Sept. 24, 1940.

WRINGER Filed June 19, 19:56 6 Sheets-Sheet s 5 w 5/ ATTEJENEYE N. L. ETTEN Sept. 24, 1940.-

WRINGER 6 sheets-sheet 6 Filed June 19, 1936 AT TDHNEYE operation, may be manipulated to reset the presthe pressure mechanism of the wringer. During the following description when read in reference which includes, preferably in one piece, upright to the accompanying drawings in which: end portions H and i2 and apron portions i3 ex- Fig. 1 is a side elevational View of a wringer tending between them. As indicated in Fig. 2,

embodying my invention; the end portions are spread outwardly at the bot- Fig. 2 is an end elevational view showing the tom, giving an enlarged base form and the sides i'i same as seen from the left in Fig. 1; of the end portions converge toward the top and Fig. 3 is a sectional side elevational View taken are cut 011 at the line M.

from line 3--3 in Fig. 2; Resting upon each of the end portions is a cap Fig. 4 is a sectional end elevational view taken structure l5 and I6 and between the caps, and

from line Ai l in Fig. 3; pivotally supported thereby, is a manually acces- Fig. 5 is an end elevational View taken from sible rocking release actuating member I! which line 5--5 in Fig. 3; will be referred to shortly.

Fig. 6 is a fragmental sectional view taken The frame I!) is of hollow construction and'on from line B'6 in Fig. 3; the inside of walls of the end portions are guide views taken on line 'l9 in Fig. 14; fine bearing blocks I9 and 20 in which are jour- 1 taken on line l5l5 in Fig. 5; mechanism at both ends of the roll consisting of Patented Sept. 24, 1940 STATES PATENT OFFECE WR-INGER Nicholas L. Etten, Waterloo, Iowa Application June 19, 1936, Serial No. 86,093

4 Claims. (01. 68-263) My invention is directed to a wringer mecha- Fig. 19 is a side elevational view taken from nism, particularly to a mechanism for holding line l9l9 in Fig. 18; the wringer rolls in pressure relation, releasing Fig. 20 is an elevational View showing the the pressure, and for restoring the pressure subparts of Fig. 18, as the same are associated with sequent to release. a wringer; and 5 The principal object of the invention is to Figs. 21 and 22 are fragmental detail views provide a wringer mechanism having, in combishowing parts illustrated in Fig. 18 in operative nation, a pair of rolls, pressure mechanism for cycle position. the rolls, a releasable mechanism for actuating Before proceeding with the description it is-to the pressure mechanism and novel manual be noted that the particular wringer mechanism 10 means for actuating the latter mechanism to apherein shown is not a necessary part of my presply pressure on the rolls. ent invention and will therefore not be described Another object is to provide a release mechain great detail. The invention is principally dinism including a handle, which after a release rected to means for actuating and controlling sure mechanism. the perusal of the description it will become ap- A further object is to provide a handle as parent that my invention may be modified so as aforesaid which is manually moved to a latched to be used in connection with many well known position to place the wringer rolls in pressure types of wringers. It is to be understood that relation, there being means to disable the latch the present wringer is shown for illustrative pur- 20 means to release the pressure, whereupon the poses only. handle may be manipulated to restore the pres- Figs. 1 and 2 are side and end elevational views sure while being moved to said latched position. respectively of a wringer embodying my inven- Other and additional objects will appear in tion. It designates a lower frame structure Figs. 7 to 9 are fragmental sectional detail portions l8, Fig. 4, forming channels which con- Figs. 10 to 12 are fragmental sectional elevanalled' the shafts of upper and lower wringer rolls tional views taken on the lower part of line 44 21 and 22. in Fig. 3; The lower bearings iii! are relatively fixed in Fig. 13 is an enlarged fragmental and elevathe frame and the upper blocks H) are made tional view showing parts in operated position as slidable in the channels whereby the upper roll 45 111 be described; 21 is movable toward or away from the lower Fig. '14. is a sectional plan view taken on line roll as will be obvious. l4l4 in Fig. 19; To hold the upper roll in resilient pressure re- Fig. 15 is an enlarged fragmental plan view lation with the lower roll, I provide a pressure Figs. 16 and 1'? are respectively side and edge cross members 23 having middle portions exelevational views of a part of the mechanism to tending across the tops and downwardly along be referred to; the sides of the blocks.

Fig. 18 is an elevational view taken on line Figs. 4, 16 and 1'? illustrate that the cross l8l8 in Fig. 19; members 23 have outwardly extending portions 24 upon which rest the heads of bolt members 25. Disposed below members 23 are frame members 26, the body portions of which extend downwardly and are made slidable in the channels which confine the bearing blocks. At the tops of the members are outwardly extending portions 2'! lying just below the portions 24 of members 23. The bolts 25 pass through the portions 2! as shown.

Confined on the bolts, between the portions 2! and aifixed nuts, are coil springs 28 which react to push the bolts down with respect to portions 2'1 with the bolt heads urging members 23 toward members 21 and roll 2| toward roll 22.

To make the pressure mechanism effective, that is, to hold the members 26 in a lowered position so as to compress the springs 28, I provide a mechanism including cam surfaces or hooks 29. The hooks are formed near the lower ends of slots 35 in members 28.

Cooperative with the hooks are cams 3| formed on a shaft 32. Shaft 32 lies longitudinally of the wringer frame and is journalled in bearing slots 32' in the end portions thereof as shown in Fig. 3. The cams 3| are preferably formed by milling out flat-bottomed slots in shaft 32 in position to engage hooks 29, as indicated in Figs. 4 and 19.

Hooks 29, in each of members 25, extend in the same direction and the cams 3| are made to cooperate with the hooks in the following manner;

Referring to Figs. 3 and 6 to 12 it will be noted that shaft 32 carries afiixed cam members 33 and 33 disposed just outside the walls of end frame portions I! and i2 respectively. Since the cams are similar in form and function, only cam 33 will be described.

It has already been noted that shaft 32 is journalled in bearing slots 32' in the frames I! and I2. The shaft is obviously free to slide at will or rotate in the slots 32. A lug 35 projecting from frame structure U is disposed to be engaged by the lobe 36 of cam 33 when the shaft 32 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 7. Fig. 8 indicates that during rotation of the shaft the cam and shaft are moved toward the right, this movement being brought about by the cam lobe 36. At the end of the rotative 5o: movement the parts lie in the position shown in Fig. 9.

Figs. 10, 11 and 12 show the positions assumed by cam 3| with respect to hook 29 when shaft 32 is positioned as shown in Figs. 7, 8, and 9 respectively. Figs. '7 and 10 show the released position, wherein member 26 is in elevated position and springs 28 are relaxed.

Figs. 8 and 11 show the shaft 32 rotated to the position where it is disposed at the right hand end of the slot 32 and cam M is correspondingly placed over hook 23. Figs. 9 and 12 indicate the locked position, wherein cam 3| has been rotated so as to engage hook 23 and force the member 25 into lowered position corresponding to pressure relation of roll 2| on roll 22.

It will be noted in Figs. 4 and 12 that cam 3| is placed in a slightly negative position, that is, it rests somewhat short of a dead center alignment with respect to the line of movement of hook 29. Due to this arrangement, when in the position shown, the cam 3| and hook 29 are not in an inherently locked or stable latch relation or, in other words are biased to a position of automatic release. A part of the pressure of springs 28. is obviously available to force reverse rotation of shaft 32 and thus, if shaft 32 were rotated from the position of Fig. 8 to that of Fig. 12 and released it would immediately be rerotated to the released position of Fig. 10. When it is found necessary, I provide an auxiliary means for causing a positive or reverse or releasing rotation of shaft. This means may have the form of a spring 3'! which is tensioned in the obvious manner.

To actuate the shaft 32 as above described to latch or look the parts in tension relationship I provide a handle member 38 which is rotatably mounted on the extending end of shaft 32. The handle carries a mechanism for releasably connecting it with the shaft as follows:

Inside the outer wall of the handle, as best shown in Figs. 18 to 22 is secured a bracket structure 39, upon which are pivotally mounted at 4|], two arms 4| and 42. The arm 4| has a tooth 43 extending from its lower side. The tooth is arranged to engage a notch 44 in the periphery of a disk. 35 which is afiixed to shaft 32, see Fig. 18. On its upper side the arm has an. extension 45 connected to the right angle end of a rod 41, the upper end of which is slidably retained in an extending portion of bracket structure 39. A spring 58 is confined on rod 41 and reacts between bracket 39 and a slidable end piece tg which rests upon the bent end of the rod as shown in Figs. 18 and 19 whereby the pressure of the spring is applied to urge the arm 4| downwardly so as to engage tooth 43 in notch 44.

The companion arm 42 lies alongside of arm 4| and has a bent over portion which lies below arm 4| and extends therebeyond a sufficient distance to lie in the path of a lug 5| secured on frame portion A lip 52 extends toward the opposite side of the arm and is engaged by a spring 53 which is mounted on bracket 39 and reacts to hold the arm up, with the portion 55, normally resting against the outer end of arm 4|. It will be noted that with the parts in position of Fig. 18, spring 53 operates in opposition to spring 48. However spring 53 has only sufiicient power to hold the arm 42, as described, and does not modify the action of spring 58 an unwanted extent.

The position of parts shown in Fig. 18 corresponds to the position of those shown in Figs. 9 and 12, or pressure position, wherein the tooth 33, being locked with disk- 45 and shaft 32, with the handle 38 held in upright position, the wringer mechanism is tensioned for practical use.

To hold the handle 38 in the position shown I provide a latch mechanism operably connected with the rocking release member IT. This latter member has already been described as pivotally supported by cap members l5 and 5. The points of support are designated 54.

Figs. 3, 13 and 15 illustrate a plate member 55 having extending portions 56 which are movably confined in openings in the end wall of member IT. The plate further has ear portions 51 extending from each side and a latch extension 58 lying in the path of a lip 59 formed in a side wall of an upwardly extending portion 60 of handle 38. The extending portions 5'! rest upon adjacent extending portions 6| of a fixture 62 secured to frame portion A spring 63 urges the plate 55 downwardly to normally hold the ear portions 57 at rest against extensions. 6|, with latch '58 lying in lower position to engage lip 59 as shown in Fig. 5.

Referring to Fig. 13, it will be apparent that when member I! is rocked upon pivots 54 the plate 55 is tilted to elevate one side whereby the latch extension 58 is elevated as shown to permit escapement of lip 59.

It will now become apparent that with the parts in position of Fig. 5, corresponding to Figs. 12 and 18, the wringer is in condition for practical use.

When it is desired to release the roll pressure the rocking member held in normal level position by springs I1 is tilted whereby latch 58 is elevated and handle 38 is made free to move responsively to the described release rotation of shaft 32. The handle, thus moved substantially to the position shown in Fig. 20, carries its mechanism to the point where extension 50 of arm 4| engages lug 5| and continues to move arm 4| with it, until a point is reached where the tooth 43 is forced out of slot 44, thus releasing shaft 32 to complete its release movement to the position of Fig. 10, without further accompanying movement of handle 38. Thus, after a release operation, the handle is forced to approximately the position shown in Figs. 20 and 21 and remains in this position, it being supported against further movement by the portion 58 resting upon lug 5| as in Fig. 21.

To reset the tensioning mechanism, the handle 38 is manually moved toward the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 20. During this movement the portion 50 is forced upwardly by the lug 5|, carrying arm 4| with it, to a point where portion 58 escapes over lug 5| whereupon the tooth 43 is forced against the disk 45 by the spring 48.

Release rotation of shaft 32 obviously carries the slot 44 approximately to the position shown in Fig. 20 and when handle 38 is moved to the corresponding position the tooth engages the notch, whereupon the handle is returned toward the upright position, carrying shaft 32 toward pressure position.

During the return movement of the handle the portion 50 obviously engages under lug 5| and is forced around it and thus the mechanism is replaced without breaking the connection of tooth 43. Fig. 22 shows the operative position of arm 42 during return movement.

Continued return movement of the handle,

eventually places the parts in the locked relation shown in Figs. 5 and 12, in position to be released by a subsequent manipulation of member H.

The reverse action of the mechanism will be well understood.

Theforegoing description of the parts, together with the explanation of their functions discloses my wringer mechanism.

It will be appreciated that I have provided a novel pressure mechanism releasable by very easy and natural actions by the operator-either a push or pull on the prominent rocking cap member IT.

The pressure reset actuated by the reset lever 38 is a high leverage mechanism that is convenient and easy in action.

The structure shown is a preferred embodiment of my invention. However, I do not desire to be limited to the structure shown except as such limitation as is imposed by the following claims.

I now claim as new:

1. A pressure mechanism for a wringer having rolls comprising, means to press the rolls together, means for actuating the same to pressure position including a handle, means to hold the handle so as to hold the actuating means in pressure position, means for releasing said holding means to permit release movement of the actuating means and handle, and mechanism for disconnecting the handle from the actuating means during release movement thereof.

2. In a wringer, the combination of a frame, rolls in the frame, mechanism to press the rolls together, means for actuating the pressure mechanism to pressure position including a handle normally connected to the pressure mechanism, said handle being manually movable in one direction to establish pressure relation and movable in return direction responsively to reaction movement of the pressure mechanism, mechanism for connecting the handle with the pressure mechanism so as to enable an operator to actuate the pressure mechanism to pressure position by means of the handle, mechanism for holding the handle in pressure applying position, means to release said holding means whereby the handle is permitted to move responsively as aforesaid, and means automatically disconnecting the handle from the pressure mechanism during an initial release movement of the pressure mechanism, the handle being released from the pressure mechanism during continued reaction movement of the pressure mechanism.

3. In a wringer, the combination of a frame, rolls mounted in the frame, pressure mechanism for the rolls, means for actuating the pressure mechanism to render the same effective to press the rolls together consisting of a cam movably mounted in the frame below the rolls, means cooperatively connecting the pressure mechanism with said cam whereby to impose or release pressure from the rolls, a handle operatively connected with the cam which is manually movable in one direction to operate the cam to actuate the pressure mechanism to apply pressure to the rolls, a latch on said frame to hold the handle in pressure applying position, means on the latch for releasing said latch to permit return release movement of the handle and cam and means to disconnect the handle from said cam after initial release of the handle to permit continued release movement of the cam without accompanying movement of the handle.

4. In a wringer, the combination of a frame, rolls mounted in the frame, pressure mechanism for the rolls, means for actuating the pressure mechanism to press the rolls together comprising a cam movably mounted in the lower frame and cooperative with a part on the pressure mechanism for operating the latter, a handle mechanism connecting the handle with said cam for moving the cam unitarily therewith whereby the handle may be moved to move the cam to effect the application of pressure, the cam being normally biased to release position, means to hold the handle and hence the cam in pressure applying position, means to release the holding means, and means to disconnect said handle from the cam during release movement of the cam.

NICHOLAS L. ET'I'EN. 

